ODF+W: Bag Limit For Sturgeon Changes April 1st

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that Oregon fishery managers announced the statewide annual bag limit for sturgeon will go to two fish effective April 1st. Since January 1st, the annual statewide bag limit has been one legal white sturgeon total for all zones. According to ODFW fish director, Steve Williams, the increased bag limit is in response to a recent decision by the state of Washington to set its statewide annual sturgeon limit at two for 2013.

“The concurrent regulations should eliminate the confusion about how many sturgeon can be retained by anglers with licenses from both Oregon and Washington,” Williams said. “While the new bag limit in Washington isn’t scheduled to go into effect until May 1st, we understand the state is considering a temporary rule that would push up the effective date to April 1st to match Oregon’s action,”

Fish that have been caught and retained since January 1st will count toward the new two fish bag limit. Anglers also are reminded that in addition to using barbless hooks for sturgeon, they are now required to use barbless hooks for all salmon, steelhead and trout fishing in the Columbia River, Willamette River below Willamette Falls, and several tributaries. Though the new barbless rule went into effect January 1st, so far, only about 80 percent of anglers are complying with the new barbless hook rule, said the Oregon State Police. The OSP states, “With the spring chinook season heating up and the number of anglers increasing, we’ll be stepping up our enforcement efforts,”

Anglers can find a complete list of waters covered by the new barbless hook rule on the ODFW Website at http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/fishing/reg_changes/index.asp.